Plural Nouns

English Grammar Rules

In general the plural of a noun is formed by adding -S to the noun.

Singular Plural

car cars

house houses

book books

bird birds

pencil pencils

However:
1. When the noun ends in S, SH, CH, X or Z*, we add -ES to the noun.

Singular Plural

kiss kisses

wish wishes
 match matches

fox foxes

quiz quizzes*

 I have a box in my bedroom.

 I have three boxes in my bedroom.

* With words that end in Z sometimes we add an extra Z to the plural form of the word (such as
with the plural of quiz).

2. When the noun ends in a VOWEL + Y, we add -S to the noun.

Singular Plural

boy boys

holiday holidays

key keys

guy guys

3. When the noun ends in a CONSONANT + Y, we remove Y and add -IES to the noun.

Singular Plural

party parties

lady ladies

story stories

nanny nannies

city cities

4. If the noun ends in F or FE, we remove the F/FE and add -VES to the noun.
 Singular Plural

life lives

leaf leaves

thief thieves

wife wives

Some exceptions: roof - roofs, cliff - cliffs, chief - chiefs, belief - beliefs, chef - chefs

5. If the noun ends in a CONSONANT + O, we normally add -ES to the noun.

Singular Plural

tomato tomatoes

potato potatoes

echo echoes

hero heroes

Some exceptions: piano - pianos, halo - halos, photo - photos

NOTE: Volcano has two correct forms of plural. Both volcanos and volcanoes are accepted.
6. There are a number of nouns that don't follow these rules. They are irregular and you need to
learn them individually because they don't normally have an S on the end.

Singular Plural

man men

woman women

child children

foot feet

tooth teeth
 goose geese

mouse mice

 There is a child in the park.

 There are many children in the park.

7. There are some nouns in English that are the same in the singular and the plural.

Singular Plural

fish fish

sheep sheep

deer deer

moose moose

aircraft aircraft

 I can see a sheep in the field.

 I can see ten sheep in the field.

Sometimes you will hear the word fishes (especially in songs) though it is grammatically
incorrect.

Summary Chart
The following is a summary chart of basic plural noun rules:
The next rules are a lot more advanced and even native speakers have difficulty with these.
Unless you are an advanced student, I wouldn't recommend learning them just now.

8. If the noun ends in IS, we change it to ES. Words that end in IS usually have a Greek root.
 Singular Plural

analysis analyses

basis bases

crisis crises

9. If the noun ends in US, we change it to I. Words that end in US usually have a Latin root.

Singular Plural

cactus cacti

fungus fungi

stimulus stimuli

syllabus syllabi

Some exceptions: octupus - octupuses (because it is from Greek, not Latin), walrus - walruses

Next activity
Pronunciation Rules:
You might be interested in the Pronunciation of -S at the end of words in English.
Grammar Games:
Try our interactive games to practice plural nouns (both regular and irregular): Plural Nouns
Similar Topics:
See our notes about Types of Nouns and Countable vs Uncountable Nouns
Grammar Worksheet:
Download our free Plural Nouns Worksheet (in PDF).
You can check the answers to this worksheet here: Answers to the Plural Nouns Worksheet.
Parent / English Teacher Resource

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Last Updated: 22 September 2019